Nissan Motor Co. v. Nissan Computer Corp.

This appeal raises a number of trademark issues arising out of the use by Uzi Nissan of his last name for several business enterprises since 1980, his use beginning in 1991 of “Nissan” as part of the name of a North Carolina computer store he owned — Nissan Computer Corp. — and his registration in 1994 of “nissan.com” as a domain name and website for advertising various products including for a period in 1999, automobile-related products and services. Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., a Japanese automobile manufacturer that registered the mark “NISSAN” in 1959, and its subsidiary, Nissan North America, Inc., began using that name, rather than “DATSUN,” to identify and market their vehicles in the United States in 1983. They filed this action in 1999 complaining that “nis-san.com” diluted the NISSAN mark under the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (FTDA), 15 U.S.C. § 1125 (c), as well as the California analogue, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 14330 , and infringed it under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1114 .

In a series of summary judgment rulings, the district court held that Nissan Computer’s automobile-related advertising constituted trademark infringement on the basis of initial interest…